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Esty rallies to defeat Roraback in 5th Congressional District By MICHAEL PUFFERREPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

WATERBURY -- Elizabeth Esty of Cheshire beat out State Sen. Andrew Roraback, R-Goshen, to become the next representative for Connecticut's 5th Congressional District Tuesday night.

It had been an anxiously close race throughout the evening, with Roraback leading throughout most of the night as small towns went for him. Esty, 53, pulled ahead late in the evening as cities reported big margins of victory for Democrats.

Roraback gave his concession speech to a crowd of supporters at Torrington's Backstage Cafe just after 11:30 p.m., saying he had already congratulated his opponent.

“I know she aspires to serve all of us,” Roraback said, wishing Esty well. “She won and now she has a responsibility and I think all of us will want her to do well in the discharge of that duty.”

Roraback has a solid following in Connecticut's Northwest corner, but political experts said he would need to cut sharply into the Democratic advantage in voter registrations in the cities to take the seat.

Esty appeared before supporters at Waterbury's Coco Key hotel at 11:44 p.m. to claim victory and thank her supporters. She said her campaign and Chris Murphy's successful Senate campaign proved Connecticut's seats cannot be bought. She noted that three political action committees from outside Connecticut spent $2.5 million against her in the last three weeks.

“We were up against the odds in this one,” Esty said. “We proved in the Senate and we proved in the House that Connecticut cannot be bought.”

It was Esty who enjoyed a significant funding edge through much of the campaign. As of Oct. 17, the last federal reporting deadline, she had raised $3 million to Roraback's $1.4 million. Both candidates benefited from outside spending, which pumped $5.3 million into the race.

Esty, in her victory speech, pledged to work for campaign finance reform to curb the influence of outside groups.

Roraback has a well established reputation as a social moderate and fiscal conservative. Esty and her supporters, however, said he would play into conservative hands in elected to Congress. Roraback's economic plans focused largely on tax breaks. Esty said she planned to maintain breaks for the middle class and let those for wealthy households expire.

Esty has come a long way in a few short years.

Esty ran her first race in 2004, taking a seat on Cheshire's Town Council. At least part of her motivation was a fight over school funding with fiscally conservative Republicans. Esty is a Yale-educated attorney who spent years as a stay-at-home mother of three children, working part-time on the occasional legal research project. She also kept busy with volunteer work, in the schools and her church.

Esty was re-elected, but served just part of her term when she was elected a state representative. She held that seat just two years before Republican Al Adinolfi of Cheshire took the seat back.

She announced an intention to run in the 5th District in April 2011, framing the campaign in a written statement claiming her determination to work for the middle class and jobs. She traveled in high political circles with her husband, Daniel Esty, an adviser to President Barack Obama and head of Connecticut's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

House Speaker Christopher Donovan was early considered a near-lock for the Democratic nomination, but was taken down by campaign finance scandal involving the arrest of close associates.

Five determined Republicans also fought for their party's nomination, helping to make the 5th District race the most expensive congressional contest in Connecticut's history. Eight candidates raised $11.9 million.

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